''The Fortnightly Review'' was one of the most prominent and influential magazines in nineteenth-century

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It was founded in 1865 by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

, Frederic Harrison, Edward Spencer Beesly, and six others with an investment of £9,000; the first edition appeared on 15 May 1865. George Henry Lewes, the partner of George Eliot, was its first editor, followed by

John Morley John Morley, 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, (24 December 1838 – 23 September 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. Initially, a journalist in the North of England and then editor of the newly Liberal-leani ...

. The print magazine ceased publication in 1954. An online "new series" started to appear in 2009.

History

''The Fortnightly Review'' aimed to offer a platform for a range of ideas, in reaction to the highly partisan journalism of its day. Indeed, in announcing the first issue of the ''Fortnightly'' in the ''Saturday Review'' of 13 May 1865, G. H. Lewes wrote, "The object of ''THE FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW'' is to become the organ of the unbiassed expression of many and various minds on topics of general interest in Politics, Literature, Philosophy, Science, and Art." But by the time Lewes left due to ill health and was replaced by 28-year-old

, the ''Fortnightly'' had become known as a partisan and Liberal magazine. It was one of the first publications to name the authors of its articles at a time when work usually appeared anonymously or under a pseudonym. As might be expected from its name, it appeared every two weeks during its first year, at 2 shillings a copy, but was published monthly thereafter. John Sutherland called it an English '' Revue des Deux Mondes'' and noted that it was "pitched at a higher level than other English journals of its class". The ''Fortnightly'' prospered under

, its sales increasing to 2,500 by 1872. Morley, a liberal, published articles favouring reform in academia, work place relations, female emancipation and religion. A host of famous and soon-to-be-famous literary figures were featured in its pages, with three novels by

and two by George Meredith appearing in serial form. The first novel serialised in the magazine was Trollope's ''

The Belton Estate ''The Belton Estate'' is a novel by Anthony Trollope, written in 1865. The novel concerns itself with a young woman who has accepted one of two suitors, then discovered that he was unworthy of her love. It was the first novel published in the '' ...

'', from 15 May 1865 to 1 January 1866. Trollope's ''

The Eustace Diamonds ''The Eustace Diamonds'' is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in 1871 as a serial in the ''Fortnightly Review''. It is the third of the " Palliser" series of novels. Plot summary In this novel, the characters of Plantagenet Palliser, ...

'' and his radical novel ''Lady Anna'' also made their first appearance there. The ''Fortnightly'' also published the poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...

. Morley fell out of favour with the more conservative publishers of the journal and was replaced by T. H. S. Escott in 1882. The new editor published political articles from across the spectrum in a return to the ''Review''s original intention. Ill health forced him to relinquish the reins in 1886 when

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1855 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

took over for eight successful years. Houghton reports that "almost every distinguished English writer and critic of the day was among his contributors". Harris' liberal views led to his replacement as editor in 1894 by the long serving W. L. Courtney (1894–1928), who featured work from some of the giants of early 20th century literature, including

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the Modernism, modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important ...

, W. B. Yeats, and

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

. In addition to literature and politics, the magazine also published several articles on science, notably

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, animal behaviour and topical issues of instinct and morality, including women's rights items by Virginia Crawford.

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's aphoristic preface to '' The Picture of Dorian Gray'' was published in the March 1891 issue; and

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalit ...

's essay " Bookshop Memories" appeared in November 1936.Orwell, Sonia and Angus, Ian (eds.). ''The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 1: An Age Like This (1920–1940)'' (Penguin). ''The Fortnightly Review'' also published several ghost stories by Oliver Onions. The print magazine changed its name to ''The Fortnightly''. It ceased publication in 1954 and was absorbed by the '' Contemporary Review'' in 1956.

Online series

In 2009 a group of British and American scholars and writers, including philosopher Anthony O'Hear, OBE, director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy, began publication of a "new series" online a
fortnightlyreview.co.uk
with the aim of extending Lewes's original editorial ambitions to modern politics, literature, philosophy, science, and art. New articles are sometimes juxtaposed with significant archival material and scholars are given assistance in research that involves the ''Fortnightly Review''. In partnership with the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

, where Harris once attended, the ''Fortnightly'' publishes the winning essay of the Trollope Prize and a series of books and monographs under its "Odd Volumes" imprint. The current editors are Prof.

Alan Macfarlane Alan Donald James Macfarlane (born 20 December 1941 in Shillong, Meghalaya, India) is an anthropologist and historian, and a Professor Emeritus of King's College, Cambridge. He is the author or editor of 20 books and numerous articles o ...

, FBA (

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

), and Denis Boyles, PhD (CAMRI, University of Westminster).

References

Sources

External links

''The Fortnightly Review''
(New Series)

of selected volumes.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fortnightly Review 1865 establishments in England 1954 disestablishments in England Defunct literary magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct political magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1865 Magazines disestablished in 1954 Magazines established in 2009 Online literary magazines Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines with defunct print editions

History

Online series

References

Sources

Further reading

External links